Origins and Species A Study of the Historical Sources of Darwinism and the Contexts of Some Other Accounts of Organic Diversity from Plato and Aristotle On Routledge Revivals Series

Originally published in 1991, Origins and Species seeks to understand the historical origins of Darwinism. The book analyses the explanatory problem to which Darwinian theory was a response, while contrasting the Darwinian with two other traditions in the interpretation of organic diversity. The book looks in detail at both Charles Darwin?s theories and Alfred Russell Wallace?s theories of about plant and animal species and raises the question of the context of Darwinism and that of Plato?s and Aristotle?s understanding of species.

Preface Introduction Part I 1. The Introduction, Creation and Origin of Species 2. The Alphabet and Grammar or Geology 3. Natural Causes, Natural Laws and Natural Selection Part II 4. Forms and Order 5. The Order of the World and the Laws of Nature 6. The Course of Nature and the History of the Earth Conclusion Bibliography